Ice Breakers

The lovely and brilliant Miss Nelson has the greatest post up right now - go here to check it out.   It got me thinking about Teach Like a Pirate and the things I do to bring my classroom together as a family.  One of my favorites is this Marshmallow Challenge.  You give the kids 20 spaghetti noodles (uncooked of course!), some tape, some string and a marshmallow.   You give them 18 minutes to work as a group to create the tallest structure they can that will support the weight of one marshmallow.  I love it so much.   It works with EVERY grade level - from little tinies,  to adults.  It gets kids talking  in ways you can't imagine, and it gives you insight into their personalities from day one!  We did this during the first couple of days of school,  and as we were remincising at the end of the year,  they brought up how much fun it was.   I wish I would have repeated it again at the end of the year.   This year I will!  

http://marshmallowchallenge.com/

What do you do to get the year started and get them connected?